First call: Raiders player ramps up Antonio Brown recruiting effort

In “First Call” Thursday, details on Josh Harrison’s new deal in Detroit. The Penguins won’t have to deal with a Flyers pest on Saturday. And the Raiders’ recruitment of Antonio Brown is underway.

Raider recruiting

The Raiders’ recruiting of Antonio Brown has begun.

We told you that the Raiders may be a leading candidate to land the Steelers’ disgruntled wide receiver in a trade. And we’ve chronicled the multiple flirtations of the 49ers toward Brown.

So Oakland’s players are trying to keep up. Raiders safety Karl Joseph put this up on his Instagram story.

#Raiders S Karl Joseph posted this on his IG story regarding @AB84 ? #recruitingSZN pic.twitter.com/RPqsco8lyr

— Fallon (@FallonSmithTV) February 19, 2019

Did you get all that, A.B.?

• Plenty of cap space … even though you aren’t a free agent

• Derek Carr is the quarterback you can target with a football during practice when he gets mad at you for running a bad route

• No state taxes in the great state of Las Vegas

Yes. The state … of Las Vegas.

He won’t be missed

Philadelphia professional goon … uh, I mean … Philadelphia defenseman Radko Gudas is one of the Flyers that Penguins fans love to hate.

For good reason. He’s a hack with a stick. He has now been suspended four times by the league.

The latest suspension was just handed down by the NHL Department of Player Safety Wednesday. It’s worth two games. And it’s the result of a two-handed slash/high stick of league-leading scorer Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay.

Philadelphia’s Radko Gudas has been suspended for two games for High-sticking Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. https://t.co/4Y7iLoWauk

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) February 20, 2019

The Penguins should be thrilled about this. The league discipline means Gudas will have to miss the outdoor game between the clubs Saturday. Knowing how emotionally charged that contest will be given Evgeni Malkin’s stick-swinging incident in their last game, it’s best that guy is in the press box.

Reunited and it feels ... OK, I suppose

If you were a Tigers fan with ideas of Manny Machado dancing through your head, you can stop dreaming — he went to San Diego.

But you get guys the Pirates didn’t want anymore.

That’s probably a dour way to look at it. Jordy Mercer is a decent defensive shortstop. He signed with Detroit in December.

Yesterday, the Tigers inked former Bucco All-Star Josh Harrison to play second base.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal says to look for Harrison to be the starter.

Free-agent infielder Josh Harrison in agreement with the #Tigers on a one-year contract, pending physical, source tells The Athletic. Expected to their everyday second baseman.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 20, 2019

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman had some terms of the deal.

Josh Harrison: 2M guaranteed plus 1M incentives on tigers deal. strong defender is expected to start at 2B, and he grabs one of the remaining MLB deals.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 21, 2019

Harrison made $10 million last year. He and Mercer play host to the Pirates on April 16. They return to PNC Park on June 18.

Ever see this before?

Duke star Zion Williamson left the team’s biggest game of the year against North Carolina just 36 seconds into play.

According to head coach Mike Krzyzewski, he suffered a “mild knee sprain” on this play. Williamson slipped and blew right through his shoe.

Zion's shoe: destroyed ? pic.twitter.com/LqQ2te0Jay

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 21, 2019

Clearly, the Blue Devils missed Williamson. UNC thrashed the Dukies, 88-72, in Durham. Luke Maye had 30 points and 15 rebounds. Former Pitt standout Cameron Johnson had 26 points and seven rebounds.

There’s no word on when Williamson will be back. Duke next plays Syracuse on Saturday in the Carrier Dome.

Nice job

Ben Howland’s Mississippi State Bulldogs beat Georgia on Wednesday, 68-67.

They got some help from the road fans when UGA got a technical becuase of an angry patron. Someone threw a stuffed Georgia Bulldog onto the floor while Mississippi State’s Quinndary Weatherspoon was missing a free throw.

Tom Crean with a more direct way to handle a fan situation at Georgia. Grabbing the PA mic after someone throws a stuffed animal on the floor during a crucial moment of the game.
"Stay with us. Don't throw anything on the court." pic.twitter.com/W7cEWL4kc3

— Dave Furst (@DaveFurst) February 21, 2019

Despite coach Tom Crean getting on the public address system to lecture the home fans, Sam Wyche style, that’s still a technical.

So Witherspoon sank one of the two technical free throws with 0.5 seconds left. He missed the second on purpose. And Howland’s team won by a point.

Nice job, random fan.